August 1, 2022 - Bad Players Are Harder To Play Against (Spiritually Clumsy)

When I was still playing hoops on a regular basis, and especially when I had some athleticism still where I could get some air between my sneakers and the floor, I found it much easier to play against good players than bad. That may sound strange but the reality was that good players were good typically because they had an understanding of the game, maybe good athleticism and skill sets… adversely bad players typically don’t understand the game as well or are possibly just a step slower or even clumsy, leading to them often being out of position… creating at times fouls that appear to be malicious and may cause injuries, when in fact they are just a result of players that are late getting to their spots…

In life, I would suggest that more people get emotionally hurt unintentionally than intentionally. Yes, there are some mean folks out there but more often than not, “injuries” take place when an inexperienced (my nice way of saying immature… socially and/or spiritually) person fails to communicate OR miscommunicates OR simply doesn’t take into account the other person’s feelings, motives, character, etc.

A much needed coaching admonition this week… the Playbook gives us clear directives over and over to “consider one another”… and it gives very direct instructions about how we should communicate:

LET YOUR SPEECH ALWAYS BE WITH GRACE, SEASONED WITH SALT, THAT YOU MAY KNOW HOW YOU OUGHT TO ANSWER ONE ANOTHER. (Colossians 4:6)

Do you see that simple truth? We OUGHT to be GRACE-full in how we communicate to others. That demands of us to not value personal pride over unity… to not demand fairness… GRACE is not fair! It eliminates a get-even mentality.

I believe that we need to get “in better shape” spiritually so we are not un-GRACE-full in how we deal with others… Spiritually clumsy people are hard to deal with and cause “injuries” with being in the wrong position… late to their spots… etc.